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We Are Almost There
Arlen L. Chitwood

Chapter 8Christians and the World

The Biblical Relationship of Christians to the World

I have given them Your Word;
and the world has hated them because they are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.

I do not pray that You should take them out of the world,
but that You should keep them from the evil one.

They are not of the world,
just as I am not of the world.

Sanctify them by Your truth.
Your Word is truth. (John 17:14-17).

Christians live in a world governed and controlled by Satan and his
angels. It is a world in which Satan and his angels continue a
rule, which they have held since time immemorial, since a time
preceding Satan’s fall, along with one-third of his original
contingent of angels ruling in lesser positions of power under him.
And this, in turn, would date back to the time following the
creation of the heavens and the earth when God appointed and placed
Satan and his angels in the positions of power that they, since that
time, have occupied (cf. Ezekiel 28:14ff; Daniel 4:17ff;
Romans 13:1).

Then, since man’s creation and fall 6,000 years ago — an individual
created in God’s image, after His likeness, created to take the
scepter in the stead of Satan and his angels (Genesis 1:26-28
[though the fall, requiring redemption, has delayed man from
occupying this position]) — Satan and his angels, continuing to
rule, have carried out this rule by and through fallen man,
by and through rulers among the nations (Daniel 10:12-20).

And since the bringing into existence of the nation of Israel over
two millennia following man’s creation (descendants of Jacob, a
special creation, separate from the nations), the rule of Satan and
his angels through fallen man has been restricted to the Gentile
nations. Israel’s ruling angel is Michael, with undoubtedly a large
contingent of angels ruling under him. And Michael, with his
angels, is not part of Satan’s kingdom (Daniel 10:21).

(Ref. the author’s
book, “The Most High Ruleth,” for a more complete, overall picture
of the preceding.)

A World That Hates Christians

The preceding, according to John 17:14, describes a world
that hates Christians, for a revealed reason — a world
presently governed and controlled by Satan and his angels.

Something though is evidently wrong in today’s world, for there is
no presently existing hatred between the world and Christians. The
world and Christians appear to get along with one another just
fine. The conflict described in Scripture, for all practical
purposes, simply doesn’t exist in today’s world.

So, what is this all about?

The answer is simple. All a person has to do is read the first part
of John 17:14, then take a look at Christendom in the world
today. And doing so, that person can know, solely from a Scriptural
standpoint, what is wrong. He can know, solely from a Scriptural
standpoint, why Christians are not hated by the world today.

Note the verse again:

I have given them Your Word;
and the world has hated them . . . .

The world either hates or does not hate Christians, the world either
gets along with or does not get along with Christians, on one
basis alone — the Word. Christians holding to the
Word, proclaiming the Word, will not find the world to be their
friend. On the other hand, Christians not holding to the Word, not
proclaiming the Word, will have no problem with the world. The two
can walk hand-in-hand.

Stated another way, there can be no such thing as Christians holding
to, proclaiming the Word, and, at the same time, being loved by the
world. And the inverse of that would have to be equally true. The
world would have no basis for hating Christians not holding to the
Word, not proclaiming the Word.

The base for the entire matter is singular.It’s
the Word, the Word, the Word, nothing else. It’s
not aids to devotions, it’s not so-called Christian music, it’s not
anything connected with any type of so-called Christian activity.
Rather, it’s the WORD, with that being the end of the matter.

Why?

The “why” of the world’s hatred for Christians holding to
and proclaiming the Word is very simple. Satan could only have
an extreme hatred for what the Word reveals about where matters are
headed. Satan is “the god of this age” (2 Corinthians 4:4),
he and his angels rule through and control the nations, and the
nations could only follow suit concerning what the Word has to say
about that which the future holds for Satan, his angels, and unsaved
man under his control and sway.

But, if the Word is removed, then nothing is left.
Apart from the Word, there would be no basis for an existing enmity
between the world and Christians.

Again, it’s the Word, the Word, the Word,
nothing else.

So, What Has Happened?

The Church
and the world find themselves today at the very end of a
2,000-year dispensation in which God has been dealing with the
new creation “in Christ.” Israel was set aside
for a dispensation, a new creation was called into existence,
and the Spirit of God has been performing a special and particular
work throughout the dispensation. He has been calling out a bride
for God’s Son, who will reign as consort queen with Him — co-heir
over all things — following Satan and his angels being put down.

Satan and his angels know these things, which form the heart of the
message to be proclaimed by and heard in the churches of the land
today. But how many Christians know anything about or have ever
even heard these things proclaimed?

The answer to that question will explain the “why” of the problem
presently existing throughout Christendom.

1) In
Christendom

In the chronology of Church history, as depicted in the first four
parables of Matthew chapter thirteen, or in the
letters to the seven churches in Revelation chapters two
and three (the only two places in the New Testament where
this complete history is revealed), the Church at the end of the
dispensation is seen in two descriptive ways:

a)
As completely leavened (Matthew 13:33)

b)
As wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked (Revelation
3:17b).

In the latter, the Church has been deceived into believing that it
is “rich, have become wealthy, and have need of
nothing” (Revelation 3:17a). Yet, the state of the
completely leavened Church at the end of the dispensation is seen by
God in a completely opposite respect.

Why is this the case? The answer, part and parcel with the working
of the leaven, is very simple. The Church has progressively
strayed from the pure, unadulterated proclamation of the Word
(John 16:9-11), the Church has progressively gone the
way of the world, and the world has won the Church over.

Accordingly,
the world has disarmed the Church, stripping the Church naked
of the armor that God has provided
(Ephesians 6:11-17 [again, note the end result of this “naked”
condition in Revelation 3:17b]).

If a person doesn’t believe that this is the case, all he
has to do is open his eyes and look around. There is no hatred
between the world and the Church; and it is difficult to know
whether we have a worldly Church or a Churchly world — probably
both. Equally difficult is to know where one begins and the other
ends in the world today.

2) In the World

The world though, by disarming the Church, has sealed its own fate.
In a respect, the nations comprising the world, by and through
disarming the Church, have committed genocide.

The Church, possessing the Word, believing and proclaiming this
Word, is in possession of a restraining power for all that exists
among the nations. But a disarmed Church, having ignored the Word,
is another matter entirely. Note how such a Church is aptly
described in Matthew 5:13-16.

The Church, in this passage, can be seen as the “salt of the
earth” which “loses its flavor” and is now “good for
nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.”
The Church can be seen as the “light of the world,” though
now “put under a basket.” And, occupying this position,
there is no longer a shining light that can glorify the “Father
in heaven.”

The restraining power of such a Church is gone. And apart from this
restraining power, there is nothing withholding “the god of this
age” from taking the nations under his control and sway to
heretofore unseen depths of degradation —e.g., homosexuality
and same-sex marriage running rampant, uprisings in nations
worldwide, etc.

The Church has allowed this to occur on the one hand; and the world,
under Satan, has brought it to pass on the other. And the end
result will be far from anything that anyone might desire.

3) The End of
the Matter

The principle pertaining to all of that which exists is seen in 2
Thessalonians 2:3-12. This passage, dealing with an already
working “mystery of lawlessness,” has to do with things that
will occur, yet future, after an existing restraining power has been
removed.

Once this restraining power has been removed, the man of sin (the
Antichrist) is going to be revealed, one whose coming is after the “working
of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying
wonders.” This man, seated on Satan’s throne, will take the
nations of the earth, including Israel, to the very brink of
complete destruction (Matthew 24:22; Revelation 13:2).

And, leading into this man’s rise, paving the way for him to put the
finishing touches on all that is seen happening in the world today,
is the worldly Church no longer holding to or proclaiming the Word,
opening the door for the world under Satan and his angels to become
fully engaged in the madness seen all around us.

The world, spiritually speaking, is dead; and the Church, the
only means through which the world could possibly find life, for all
practical purposes, has become like the world. And the same fate
awaits both (1 Corinthians 11:31, 32).

Note from the preceding two verses that it is possible for
Christians who do not judge themselves during the present time to
one day be judged by the Lord after a fashion that they will be “condemned
with the world.” For the Christian, this would have to
do with his calling, with millennial verities in view; but for
the world, without life or a calling, this could only have to do
with eternal verities.

And that brings matters back to the existing problem. The Church,
by forsaking the Word (progressively brought about by the working of
the leaven), has allowed a friendship with the world to ensue
(cf. James 4:4; 1John 2:15-17), sealing its
own fate in one respect; and the world, having disarmed
the Church, has sealed its own fate in another respect.

How much worse will it become on both fronts before the Lord steps
in and removes the Church? Only time will tell. But when the
Church is removed, and the existing flicker of light, though under a
bushel, is gone — with nothing but darkness and death
remaining — things will begin tumbling completely out of control.

And you don’t want to be here, but you will be if unsaved; and you
don’t want to be among Christians at Christ’s judgment seat, “condemned
with the world,” but you will be if . . .